Published 9:43 am, Thursday, January 25, 2018

Sofia Valdez captured the moment UT representatives showed up on her doorstep with a huge surprise for her sister Camila.

Media: Sofia Valdez

For 17-year-old Camila Valdez of Laredo, financial struggles have been a reality for as far back as she can remember. But on Saturday, a massive weight was lifted.

In a video posted on Twitter by Valdez' sister, Sofia, Camila is shown having the surprise of a lifetime when representatives from the University of Texas at Austin knocked on her door bearing big bucks.

"It was the most relieving moment in my life," Valdez, a senior Alexander High School, told LMTonline.com.

The video shows Valdez first being presented with a backpack of college essentials, but then she is handed a check for a four-year scholarship to UT-Austin totaling $48,000. Valdez, in shock and awe, has since captured the hearts of the internet in the life-changing video posted Saturday.

"I didn't expect people all over Texas, and even the country, to retweet," she said.

She also didn't expect to receive the scholarship in the first place, she added.

"I have never been as shocked as I was in that moment," Valdez said. "When I applied for scholarships for UT, I saw all of these people on Twitter and social media getting scholarships. I was (feeling) down because I thought I wasn't going to get it."

Little did she know that UT had indeed taken notice of her. Representatives of the university said in a second video posted by her sister that the scholarship is for all her hard work the last 17 years of her life.

"We are making these surprise visits to only like 35-40 students across the state, and your one of the ones we picked to do this for," a University of Texas representative is heard saying in the video.

Valdez said that although it was a total surprise for her, her family was already in the know that a knock on the door would be coming.